TO LIVE Chapter I (2)

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TO LIVE Chapter I (2)
That summer I almost fell in love. I met an enchanting young girl, and even today her dark complexion glitters and radiates before my eyes. When I saw her, her pants were cuffed up high as she sat on the grass beside the river. Watching over a flock of large, plump ducks, she held a bamboo pole to prod them and keep them together. This timid sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl spent a scorching afternoon with me.
Every time she smiled she would lower her head in embarrassment. I noticed how she secretly rolled her pants back down and hid her bare feet in the thick grass. That afternoon I spoke endlessly and irresponsibly of my plans to take her away to see the world. She was both frightened and pleased. At the time I was in quite high spirits and very sincere about what I said. During that short time with her, I was overcome by a bliss that extended throughout my body and soul—never once did I stop to think about tomorrow. Only later when her three brothers, each of whom was built like an ox, approached, did I start to get scared. I felt the best thing for me to do would be to get out of there—the faster the better—that is, unless I wanted to end up really marrying their little sister.
It was just as summer arrived that I met an old man named Fugui. That afternoon I made my way over to a tall tree with lush foliage to get some relief from the blistering sun. The cotton in the fields had already been harvested. A few women wearing scarves were collecting the cotton stalks—every now and then their asses would wiggle as they removed the mud from the stalk roots. I took off my straw hat and, reaching for the towel behind me, wiped the sweat from my face. Next to me there was a pond, which had turned golden under the radiance of the sun. As I sat against the tree trunk facing the pond, I suddenly felt like I needed a nap. I lay down on the grass under the shade of the tree. Covering my face with my straw hat and using my backpack as a pillow, I closed my eyes.
This "me" of ten years before lay down amid the leaves and long grass and slept for two whole hours. During this time a few ants crawled up my leg, but even in my deep sleep my finger accurately flicked them off. I felt as if I had come to a shore, and the echoing shouts of an old man poling a bamboo raft seemed to reach my ears from far away. I awakened from my dream, and the voice calling out was actually crisp and clear. After I turned around I saw an old man in one of the nearby fields patiently trying to coax an old ox into working.
The ox, probably already exhausted from plowing the field, stubbornly lowered his head and refused to move. The bare-chested old man leaned on the plough behind his beast, seemingly frustrated by the ox's attitude. I heard his bright voice say to the ox, "Oxen plough the fields, dogs watch over the house, monks beg for alms, chickens call at the break of day and women do the weaving. Have you ever heard of an ox that didn't plough the land? This is a truth that has been with us since ancient times. Come on, let's go."
The weary old ox, after hearing the old man's lesson, raised his head as if admitting his mistake. Pulling the plow, he began to move forward.
I noticed the old man's back was just as black as the ox's.
Even though the pair had already entered the twilight of their lives, they still managed to noisily plough the rugged land, the earth breaking up like a wave crashing on the shore. Afterward I heard the old man's hoarse yet moving voice sing an old folk song. First he sang a long introductory melody, then came two lines of verse: The emperor beckons me; he wants me to marry his daughter. The road to the capital is long and distant; I don't want her.
Because the journey is long, he is unwilling to be the emperor's son-in-law. The way the old man seemed to relish his own cleverness made me burst out laughing. The ox seemed to be slowing up, so the old man once again began to urge him on, "Erxi, Youqing, come on, let's not be lazy. Jiazhen and Fengxia are doing a good job. Hell, even Kugen does okay."
Just how many different names can one ox have? My curiosity got the better of me, and I walked over to the edge of the field. As I approached the old man I asked him, "How many names does this ox have?"
The old man, using the plow to support himself, straightened up. After looking me over he asked, "You a city boy?"
"Uh huh," I nodded.
The old man seemed pleased with himself. "I could tell right away."
"Just how many names does this ox have?" I repeated.
"He's got only one," the old man replied. "He's called Fugui."
"But just now you called him a whole bunch of names."
"Oh . . ." The old man smiled and gestured cryptically for me to move closer. As I neared him it seemed as if he wanted to say something but stopped. When he saw the ox raise its head, he gave him a reprimand, "No eavesdropping! Lower your head!"
The ox did lower his head, and then the old man whispered to me, "I'm afraid he'll discover he's the only one working the field, so I call out some other names to fool him. If he hears that there are other oxen around working the fields, he'll work harder and won't feel so depressed."
Seeing the old man's dark face smiling in the sunlight was quite moving. The wrinkles on his face moved about happily. They were caked with mud, just like the small dirt trails that ran through the fields.
Afterward the old man and I sat down under that lush tree. And on that bright afternoon, he began to tell me about himself.
那个夏天我还差一点谈情说爱，我遇到了一位赏心悦目的女孩，她黝黑的脸蛋至今还在我眼前闪闪发光。我见到她时，她卷起裤管坐在河边的青草上，摆弄着一根竹竿在照看一群肥硕的鸭子。这个十六七岁的女孩，羞怯地与我共同度过了一个炎热的下午，她每次露出笑容时都要深深地低下头去，我看着她偷偷放下卷起的裤管，又怎样将自己的光脚丫子藏到草丛里去。那个下午我信口开河，向她兜售如何带她外出游玩的计划，这个女孩又惊又喜。我当初情绪激昂，说这些也是真心实意。我只是感到和她在一起身心愉快，也不去考虑以后会是怎样。可是后来，当她三个强壮如牛的哥哥走过来时，我才吓一跳，我感到自己应该逃之夭夭了，否则我就会不得不娶她为妻。
　　我遇到那位名叫福贵的老人时，是夏天刚刚来到的季节。
　　那天午后，我走到了一棵有着茂盛树叶的树下，田里的棉花已被收起，几个包着头巾的女人正将棉秆拔出来，她们不时抖动着屁股摔去根须上的泥巴。我摘下草帽，从身后取过毛巾擦起脸上的汗水，身旁是一口在阳光下泛黄的池塘，我就靠着树干面对池塘坐了下来，紧接着我感到自己要睡觉了，就在青草上躺下来，把草帽盖住脸，枕着背包在树荫里闭上了眼睛。
　　这位比现在年轻十岁的我，躺在树叶和草丛中间，睡了两个小时。其间有几只蚂蚁爬到了我的腿上，我沉睡中的手指依然准确地将它们弹走。后来仿佛是来到了水边，一位老人撑着竹筏在远处响亮地吆喝。我从睡梦里挣脱而出，吆喝声在现实里清晰地传来，我起身后，看到近旁田里一个老人正在开导一头老牛。
　　犁田的老牛或许已经深感疲倦，它低头伫立在那里，后面赤裸着脊背扶犁的老人，对老牛的消极态度似乎不满，我听到他嗓音响亮地对牛说道：
　　“做牛耕田，做狗看家，做和尚化缘，做鸡报晓，做女人织布，哪只牛不耕田？这可是自古就有的道理，走呀，走呀。”
　　疲倦的老牛听到老人的吆喝后，仿佛知错般地抬起了头，拉着犁往前走去。
　　我看到老人的脊背和牛背一样黝黑，两个进入垂暮的生命将那块古板的田地耕得哗哗翻动，犹如水面上掀起的波浪。
　　随后，我听到老人粗哑却令人感动的嗓音，他唱起了旧日的歌谣，先是口依呀啦呀唱出长长的引子，接着出现两句歌词——
　　皇帝招我做女婿，路远迢迢我不去。
　　因为路途遥远，不愿去做皇帝的女婿。老人的自鸣得意让我失声而笑。可能是牛放慢了脚步，老人又吆喝起来：
　　“二喜，有庆不要偷懒；家珍，凤霞耕得好；苦根也行啊。”
　　一头牛竟会有这么多名字？我好奇地走到田边，问走近的老人：
　　“这牛有多少名字？”
　　老人扶住犁站下来，他将我上下打量一番后问：
　　“你是城里人吧？”
　　“是的。”我点点头。
　　老人得意起来，“我一眼就看出来了。”
　　我说：“这牛究竟有多少名字？”
　　老人回答：“这牛叫福贵，就一个名字。”
　　“可你刚才叫了几个名字。”
　　“噢——”老人高兴地笑起来，他神秘地向我招招手，当我凑过去时，他欲说又止，他看到牛正抬着头，就训斥它：
　　“你别偷听，把头低下。”
　　牛果然低下了头，这时老人悄声对我说：
　　“我怕它知道只有自己在耕田，就多叫出几个名字去骗它，它听到还有别的牛也在耕田，就不会不高兴，耕田也就起劲啦。”
　　老人黝黑的脸在阳光里笑得十分生动，脸上的皱纹欢乐地游动着，里面镶满了泥土，就如布满田间的小道。
　　这位老人后来和我一起坐在了那棵茂盛的树下，在那个充满阳光的下午，他向我讲述了自己。